Don't renovators have any taste?

[goo**spew]

I am currently searching for a home - a traditional Victorian or Edwardian/Federation style that has been sensitively renovated and restored - an oxymoron if ever I heard one!

Why is it, there are so many beautiful old frontages for sale and then when you click through the photos, the first four are lovely, showing well maintained high ceilings and fireplaces, plaster cornices et al and then you click on the kitchen and there is this laminate open plan monstrocity with horrendous halogen lighting, faux granite worktops and units that look like they were put together by Ikea?

Why on earth don't these homeowners or developers consider the original property and simply build an extension that mirrors the front? Fake Victorian fireplaces and imitation antique lighting cost less than this modern nonsense and as for open plan... sheesh, I understand we no longer want cramped living rooms and lean-to kitchens but why don't the designers take the sensibly sized front rooms as a guide, instead of building an air-plane hanger sized living, eating area that in some cases completely gobbles into the garden leaving a strip of grass the size of a nature strip and a view of the back fence a meter from your patio doors? With all that room, you would think the developers could at least do away with those horrible stainless steel features and fridges and washing machines that should be hidden behind wooden doors. And as for the outer extension, at least clad it in wood or reclaimed bricks - enough with the grey render that makes it look like a public toilet block. (*waves to she_ele*) What on earth will future generations think of the designs of this early millenium?

The worst offenders are the bathrooms. For goodness sake, buy a copper bath and use imitation old tiling and butler sink basins, anything other than those horrid purple glass bowls that stick up from white plastic shelves. You don't have to be an expert in the era of your home. Five minutes of googling will give you exact ideas on what design road to take. 

Personally I love old blue stone/sand stone houses but I have yet to see someone take an old house and restore it to its former glory without adding plasma tv's attached to walls, ducted heating and generic carpeting over beautiful floorboards when a nice persian rug would do the job far more effectively. Don't people realise the 21st century is ugly? You bought an old house - Keep it that way!

In all my searching I have only found one place that has not been renovated as described above and that's because they have an original verandah scaling the entire perimeter of the property. And they obviously know what they have as it's priced at least half a million over what it is worth.

Surely someone out there shares my disdain for the current slap-it-up extensions?

[lakeland27]

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@goo**spew wrote:

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@lakeland27 wrote:

the concept of 'taste' is entirely dependent on preference. the idea that one person has superior taste to another is rubbish. i have spent more than a little time in kew myself, and the repro housing you describe i find the antithesis of good taste, but that's only my opinion, aye  spew ?

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Nah, what you describe are the MacMansions of Greenvale. I don't doubtt you have spent time in Kew as there is an upper-class section, middle and naturally, lower...

The mansions I describe are in Shakespeare Grove, Hawthorn. Google the street and you will see what good taste is. The "repro" housing I describe is identical to the original Victorian, Edwardian and Federation mansions of the period, using original fittings and building techniques used at the time. If you think these homes are the antithesis of good taste, I would love to know what you think good taste is???

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i know the houses you speak of,  and i'm happy for you to enjoy them. the concept of good taste is relative however.. i have preferences, but i do not think my taste is 'good' or 'better'  as it is only good to those who share it.

[goo**spew]

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@lakeland27 wrote:

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@goo**spew wrote:

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@lakeland27 wrote:

the concept of 'taste' is entirely dependent on preference. the idea that one person has superior taste to another is rubbish. i have spent more than a little time in kew myself, and the repro housing you describe i find the antithesis of good taste, but that's only my opinion, aye  spew ?

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Nah, what you describe are the MacMansions of Greenvale. I don't doubtt you have spent time in Kew as there is an upper-class section, middle and naturally, lower...

The mansions I describe are in Shakespeare Grove, Hawthorn. Google the street and you will see what good taste is. The "repro" housing I describe is identical to the original Victorian, Edwardian and Federation mansions of the period, using original fittings and building techniques used at the time. If you think these homes are the antithesis of good taste, I would love to know what you think good taste is???

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i know the houses you speak of,  and i'm happy for you to enjoy them. the concept of good taste is relative however.. i have preferences, but i do not think my taste is 'good' or 'better'  as it is only good to those who share it.

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Nearly everyone who had the money would like to live in one of the houses in Shakespeare Grove. Those who don't have bad taste.

If you're so confident to announce what is bad taste, surely you have the courage to tell us all what you define as good taste?

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

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@goo**spew wrote:

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@lakeland27 wrote:

the concept of 'taste' is entirely dependent on preference. the idea that one person has superior taste to another is rubbish. i have spent more than a little time in kew myself, and the repro housing you describe i find the antithesis of good taste, but that's only my opinion, aye  spew ?

---

Nah, what you describe are the MacMansions of Greenvale. I don't doubtt you have spent time in Kew as there is an upper-class section, middle and naturally, lower...

The mansions I describe are in Shakespeare Grove, Hawthorn. Google the street and you will see what good taste is. The "repro" housing I describe is identical to the original Victorian, Edwardian and Federation mansions of the period, using original fittings and building techniques used at the time. If you think these homes are the antithesis of good taste, I would love to know what you think good taste is???

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    Do you ride your skateboard along that street very often?.

     ...it might happen for you one day Goo Spew...one day.....

[the_great_she_elephant]

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@goo**spew wrote:

I hasten to add that rebuilding original mansions must only occur in areas that suppport such a home. For instance, building a mansion in the suburb where she_ele lives would be like putting lipstick on a pig, you know?

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A word in your shell pink ear, Goo Spew. I know you really love that underlined expression - maybe you you have even convinced yourself that you invented it - but if you keep using it to insult other posters, we may all begin to suspect that, for obvious reasons, lipstick doesn't feature too prominently in your own beauty routine.

[goo**spew]

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@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:

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@goo**spew wrote:

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@lakeland27 wrote:

the concept of 'taste' is entirely dependent on preference. the idea that one person has superior taste to another is rubbish. i have spent more than a little time in kew myself, and the repro housing you describe i find the antithesis of good taste, but that's only my opinion, aye  spew ?

---

Nah, what you describe are the MacMansions of Greenvale. I don't doubtt you have spent time in Kew as there is an upper-class section, middle and naturally, lower...

The mansions I describe are in Shakespeare Grove, Hawthorn. Google the street and you will see what good taste is. The "repro" housing I describe is identical to the original Victorian, Edwardian and Federation mansions of the period, using original fittings and building techniques used at the time. If you think these homes are the antithesis of good taste, I would love to know what you think good taste is???

---

    Do you ride your skateboard along that street very often?.

     ...it might happen for you one day Goo Spew...one day.....

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LOL, a skateboard? I haven't heard anyone use that word, let alone ride one, since 1989!!!   But I forgive you, judging by your hairstyle, that's a year you've been stuck in ever since 😉

[lakeland27]

okay you win. i like mcmansions. and i'll give my description of good taste. good taste is pandering to the value judgements of those you admire, the people you would see as peers.  I remember my mother saying her sisters taste was appalling, but today if i were to sell my mothers family heirloom furniture and aunties teak and  tretchikov prints, the price differences would be negligible .

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

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@goo**spew wrote:

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@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:

---

@goo**spew wrote:

---

@lakeland27 wrote:

the concept of 'taste' is entirely dependent on preference. the idea that one person has superior taste to another is rubbish. i have spent more than a little time in kew myself, and the repro housing you describe i find the antithesis of good taste, but that's only my opinion, aye  spew ?

---

Nah, what you describe are the MacMansions of Greenvale. I don't doubtt you have spent time in Kew as there is an upper-class section, middle and naturally, lower...

The mansions I describe are in Shakespeare Grove, Hawthorn. Google the street and you will see what good taste is. The "repro" housing I describe is identical to the original Victorian, Edwardian and Federation mansions of the period, using original fittings and building techniques used at the time. If you think these homes are the antithesis of good taste, I would love to know what you think good taste is???

---

    Do you ride your skateboard along that street very often?.

     ...it might happen for you one day Goo Spew...one day.....

---

LOL, a skateboard? I haven't heard anyone use that word, let alone ride one, since 1989!!!   But I forgive you, judging by your hairstyle, that's a year you've been stuck in ever since 😉

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   Don't be embarrassed about it goo spew...one day you will be old enough and tall enough to borrow your parents car to cruise the

streets......

[goo**spew]

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@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:

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@goo**spew wrote:

---

@siggie-reported-by-alarmists wrote:

---

@goo**spew wrote:

---

@lakeland27 wrote:

the concept of 'taste' is entirely dependent on preference. the idea that one person has superior taste to another is rubbish. i have spent more than a little time in kew myself, and the repro housing you describe i find the antithesis of good taste, but that's only my opinion, aye  spew ?

---

Nah, what you describe are the MacMansions of Greenvale. I don't doubtt you have spent time in Kew as there is an upper-class section, middle and naturally, lower...

The mansions I describe are in Shakespeare Grove, Hawthorn. Google the street and you will see what good taste is. The "repro" housing I describe is identical to the original Victorian, Edwardian and Federation mansions of the period, using original fittings and building techniques used at the time. If you think these homes are the antithesis of good taste, I would love to know what you think good taste is???

---

    Do you ride your skateboard along that street very often?.

     ...it might happen for you one day Goo Spew...one day.....

---

LOL, a skateboard? I haven't heard anyone use that word, let alone ride one, since 1989!!!   But I forgive you, judging by your hairstyle, that's a year you've been stuck in ever since 😉

---

   Don't be embarrassed about it goo spew...one you will be old enough and tall enough to borrow your parents car to cruise the

streets......

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one what??? 

[lakeland27]

hit back with a snappy retort regarding climate change gooey.

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

Please do.....I have never heard one yet ........